


Salve the Pain

by hakaseheart



Category: Zyuden Sentai Kyoryuger
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-23
Updated: 2014-08-15
Packaged: 2017-12-09 07:47:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/771771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hakaseheart/pseuds/hakaseheart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nobu wasn't expecting to see the dark shape huddled by his door, sobbing and reeking of booze. Upon further inspection, he certainly wasn't expecting to actually recognize him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Salve the Pain

When Nobu opened the door, trash bag in hand, he was expecting a short walk to the garbage drop site in the slightly-chilly spring evening.

He wasn't expecting to see the dark shape huddled by his door, sobbing and reeking of booze. Upon further inspection, he certainly wasn't expecting to actually recognize him.

"Ian?" he asked, warily at first, then more concerned as he definitely identified the leather jacket. "Ian!" The bag dropped to the floor, momentarily forgotten as Nobu sank into a crouch and grabbed Ian by the shoulders. "What's wrong? What happened?"

"No..." Ian choked out between sobs, drunkenly flinging his arms over Nobu's shoulders. "Nossan...I didn't...know..."

The words were strange, but Nobu pieced them together enough to make a decent guess. "You didn't know where else to go?" He was answered with a nod against his shoulder, and he sighed and patted the younger man's back gently. "Here. Let's get inside, okay? It's warmer in there." Opening the door once more, he kicked the garbage back inside and pulled Ian in along with him.

A few minutes later and Ian's jacket was hung on a peg, blanket slung around his shoulders on the couch as Nobu brewed him a cup of coffee. "It's nothing fancy," he called from the kitchen, before bringing out a pair of mugs and setting one down on the table. "But I have a feeling you like your coffee _black_ , right?"

The joke barely even tugged at Ian's face, and Nobu sat down across from him and tried to keep composed. "Hey," he said gently. "You're here now, you're safe. Yuuko and Rika are on a trip, so we can talk freely. If you want." He took a sip of his coffee and looked away, waiting for Ian to talk on his own time.

Nearly a full minute passed before Ian spoke, his voice cracking from drink and overuse. "He said no," he said, followed by a bitter chuckle. "He said no, I'm too old, too male, that we can't...we can't..." The tears threatened once more, and Nobu leaned forward to push the box of tissues a little bit closer.

"Who said no?" Nobu asked, although he knew the answer as soon as the question left his lips. There was only one 'he' that Ian had seemed to have explicit interest in, as far as he was aware. "...was it...Souji?"

Ian quieted a choked sob with a gulp of coffee, then nodded.

Nobu was about to ask if that meant Ian was gay, but he held his tongue, knowing well enough that a womanizer like Ian wouldn't make a move on Souji unless he had some sort of serious interest. "Well...at least that means you'll still be free to date all of your many women, right?"

He was answered with a snort. "Like that even matters," Ian muttered, staring down into his cup. 

"I guess not," Nobu quickly agreed, thoroughly embarrassed by his own assumptions. "Listen...you can stay here tonight, okay? There's a spare futon in my room for guests, if you want it."

Ian kept his eyes down, but eventually nodded. He kept sipping at the mug of coffee, having already almost drained it. 

"Alright, good." Nobu wasn't sure what else to do, or say, so he stood - leaving his barely-touched coffee behind - and headed back over to the door. "I need to take the garbage out, I'll be back in a few minutes, okay?" He slipped his shoes back on and grabbed the garbage bag, then made what was probably the fastest garbage run he'd ever done in his life.

Still, when he returned, Ian was slumped across the table, fast asleep. Sighing, Nobu cleaned up the mugs and adjusted the blanket over his teammate's shoulders. "Sleep well, Ian-chan," he chuckled to himself, then tucked himself into bed.

-

Nobu's bedroom was separate from Rika and Yuuko's, more out of propriety than any sort of excess space in their apartment. Still, there would sometimes be mornings that Rika would bounce in, either climbing under his comforter or tugging on his elbow to wake him up. So when he was woken by the rustling of the covers as they slid off of him, he figured it was just his niece trying to get his attention.

"Mmmnot now, Rika-chan," he mumbled into his pillow, reaching down to pull the covers back up. "Just another half hour, okay?"

His hand hit something a little more sturdy than a little girl, however, and he paused. 

"I'm not Rika-chan, Nossan."

Nobu's eyes flew open and he turned over to look up at Ian's eyes glinting dangerously in the darkness. "I-Ian?" he stammered, realizing that the younger man was practically straddling him. "Th-this is my futon, I, I mean, the guest one is in the closet. I can go pull it ou-"

He was swiftly silenced by Ian's lips pressing against his, and his eyes went even wider. His teammate tasted of bourbon and coffee, and he was still processing that when Ian's tongue slid tantalizingly across his lips.

Nobu pulled back, breaking the kiss, stopping himself just short of throwing Ian off him entirely. "What is going on, Ian?" he asked, embarrassed by how breathless he already was. "What's all this about?"

Ian sat up, putting pressure on a suddenly wide-awake area of Nobu's anatomy, and pouted. "I just wanted...to show my gratitude?" he said with a sluggish shrug. "And maybe...just needed...a little something..." He leaned forward again, brushing his nose along Nobu's cheek and tugging at an earlobe with his teeth. "It's been a while for you, hasn't it, Nossan?" he asked, voice low and rugged.

The words reverberated in his ear, and Nobu swallowed nervously. It certainly had been a long time, for sure. But he knew - he could tell - that this was just rebound for Ian, just something to salve the pain. And he was summoning up the courage to turn him down properly when Ian ground against him, and Nobu realized then that Ian was completely naked.

"I-Ian," he nearly squeaked, trying to find words as his hands flailed uselessly. "Trust me when I say that this is a, uh, _hard_ decision to make, but I really don't think this is a good idea." Ian slumped against him, head buried in his shoulder, and Nobu couldn't tell if it was a denial of his rejection or just a depressed reaction. "N-not that you're not, um, appealing, I mean, it's just that I don't think...that this is the best time."

There was a moment of silence, and then Ian answered him with a snore.

He exhaled, long and slow, letting his neck and shoulders relax against the futon. No matter how horny Ian had been, the alcohol had won out in the end.

Slowly, carefully, Nobu rolled Ian onto the floor, propping his head up with his own pillow as he went to pull the guest futon from the closet. 

Then, once Ian was properly tucked in to bed, Nobu excused himself to the restroom and took care of his own business before heading back to sleep. 

He might be an armored hero, after all, but he wasn't made of steel.


	2. At Least Trust Me

It would have been icily silent if it weren't for the music coming through the speakers in Tiger Boy. As it was, quiet music played in the background over the occasional clink of a spoon or glass, sometimes interrupted by King's valiant attempts to stir up conversation.

It really wasn't King's thing to let a situation stay this sour if he could help it. Their bills long since paid, he gave up and dove into the issue head-on. "So what's going on here?" he asked amiably, leaning his elbows onto the table. "Did you guys have a fight?"

There was another awkward moment before Souji suddenly stood up, grabbing his sword from where it leaned against the wall. "I have to practice," he said shortly, avoiding everyone's eyes as he stalked around the table and out the front door of the restaurant, nearly clipping Amy's elbow as she came out of the kitchen.

"Arrrgh, that's rough," King groaned. He looked to Ian and Nobu for support but realized they were both looking in every other possible direction. Before he could say another word, Amy rushed over to the table and looked at each of them worriedly.

"Is something wrong with Souji?" she asked, face creased with concern. Ian failed to respond, and Nobu was visibly biting his tongue, so King just shrugged in response. "I'm going to go after him, then." She reached around, untying her apron as she turned to follow Souji, pausing just long enough to toss it on the coat rack before running out the door.

Amy was barely out of hearing range when Nobu stood up as well, grabbing his jacket from the back of his chair and slinging it onto his shoulders. "I've, uh, got a job to get to as well. Something that got moved back from a few days ago. It wouldn't do to be _late_ to such a _belated_ appointment!" Nobu left with a stilted wave, that King very clearly noticed was deliberately only directed at him.

That left King and Ian alone at the table, and while the awkward atmosphere had somewhat lessened, it still hung far more heaviliy than King would prefer. "So something _did_ happen," he pointed out, shifting one chair over to sit next to the silent gunman. "Ian. Are you alright?"

Ian crossed his legs in a manner that was usually casual for him, but today, seemed like one of the most defensive moves King had ever seen from him. "Of course I am," Ian replied, voice and shoulders tight. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Oh, I don't know," King answered easily, watching Ian out the corner of his eye. "Maybe because the three of you hadn't swapped a single word since we sat down an hour ago?"

"Maybe we just don't feel like talking today, King." Ian turned his head to shoot King a look that was equal parts defensive and cavalier. "We can't all be as laid-back as you are, after all."

King blinked at that, not entirely sure what Ian was getting at. He had a feeling it was meant as a slight against him, but couldn't fathom actually interpreting it that way. Before he had a chance to process it fully, however, Ian stood up and stretched.

"I've got somewhere to be, too. Maybe we can talk some other time, okay?" Ian flashed King an empty smile before meandering towards the door, hands stuck firmly in his pockets.

King frowned, and half-stood from his chair. "Ian," he started to call out, but left off as Ian waved a lazy hand without even turning around. So he sat back down, watching his teammate's back as he walked away, wondering if Ian would ever be able to fully trust him after all.

-

Hours later and the night wasn't exactly young, yet King still sat by the door to Ian's apartment. He'd only been here once before, but had triple-checked with neighbors that it was, in fact, the right door. King knew that Ian went out quite a bit - and had accidentally interrupted several dates in the past - but certainly the gunman would still come back to his apartment at night. 

King was the leader, after all. And if one of his team was in trouble, he wanted to help. Even if that meant sitting by a door until the sun rose.

-

The last job of the day had run later than Nobu had intended it to - it wasn't supposed to be a full plumbing job, not at first. But the problem had gotten worse since he'd gotten the call, and what should have been a half-hour fix turned into a three-hour disaster. The homeowner had been kind enough to offer him some dinner, but he was still exhausted as he drove the company car back home for the evening.

He'd been avoiding home since he'd left it that morning, even leaving the guest futon unrolled and mussed on the bedroom floor. Ian had been gone before he'd woken up, and if it hadn't been for the futon, he would have likely written it all off as a dream. But the evidence was there, so instead he worked to try and forget about everything that had happened the night before.

Lunch at Tiger Boy had been a bad idea, something he'd realized far too late to actually fix. If he'd wanted confirmation that he hadn't dreamed up the whole evening, he'd certainly found it in spades. Heavy, awkward spades, that dragged down the mood and made him so uncomfortable he left half an hour early for his next job. 

He almost wished for a Deboss attack, if just so he could let off some energy. Maybe even force things back to normalcy.

Nobu took his time driving home, delaying the inevitable. That might have been exactly what gave him the opportunity to see the figure stumbling across the intersection to his left, dressed all in black in what was getting close to the dead of night. He stopped for a moment, making sure the person was going to be alright, before eventually recognizing the shape of the man's jacket collar.

"Ian...?" he nearly whispered, before putting the car in park and hopping out onto the sidewalk. "Ian!"

The shape paused, hanging heavily from a signpole before looking up at the source of the voice. "Ahahahahaha," it laughed weakly, and Nobu could tell for sure that this person was, in fact, his teammate. "Of course. Of course!"

Nobu watched as Ian's fingers started to pull away from the pole, and he darted across the street just in time to catch him before he slumped to the ground completely. Putting his shoulder underneath Ian's for support, he could smell in full-force the reek of alcohol covering the gunman. "Ian," he said once more, voice weighted with concern. "What are you doing?"

"What'm I doing?" Ian asked with mock incredulity. "I'm washing m'pain 'way, s'what I'm doing!" His foot dragged a moment too long and he stumbled against Nobu. "Not really sure s'working, though."

Sighing, Nobu hefted Ian against him and started to lead both of them back to his car. "No, I doubt it is," he said, somehow keeping the frustration out of his voice. " _Drinking_ rarely ever helps _thinking_ , you know."

Ian laughed, some sort of mix between a bitter chuckle and an actual guffaw. "Your jokes r'horrible, Nossan," he said, and clapped a hand to Nobu's chest. "Really bad."

"Glad I could help," Nobu replied almost automatically, before opening the passenger side door to dump Ian into the car. "Now buckle up. I'm not going to let you wander the streets like this, alright?"

"What, y'don't trust me?" Ian said as the door shut and Nobu moved around to get in behind the wheel. "Good t'see we've got that kinda teamwork."

"We've got great teamwork," Nobu said, forcing a grin as he made sure he and Ian were buckled in tightly. "That's why I'm making sure I've still got a team in the morning."

"Then y'should be checking on the boy, too," Ian mumbled in reply. Nobu gave him a curious look, but his passenger had gone silent, and they stayed that way for the rest of the drive home.

-

The call came when Nobu was making coffee, keeping one eye on Ian through the small window in the kitchen. For the second night in a row the gunman was bundled up in a blanket on his couch, keeping him company as his sister and niece were out of town. 

When his MoBuckle went off he ducked behind the fridge to answer it, keeping his voice as low as possible. "King?" he asked in surprise. "What is it?" 

King's voice came over the tiny speaker. "I've been waiting outside Ian's place all night, but he hasn't shown up," his leader said worriedly. "Do you know where he is?" Nobu sighed. He was a terrible liar in the first place, and lying to King seemed pretty much impossible. "He's here," he admitted quietly. "I'll take care of him, okay? You get home, get some rest."

King said something more, about being able to trust Nobu and glad that he had such great teammates, but Nobu rushed through the end of the call and tucked the MoBuckle away before Ian could realize what was going on. The coffee finished brewing soon after, and Nobu brought out a pair of mugs for the two of them, just like before.

"Was last night that great, Nossan?" Ian said, smirking lightly as he took the mug between his hands. "Seems like you're going for a repeat of it at this point."

Nobu sighed, but took a seat on the couch by Ian's side instead of across the coffee table. "Ian..." 

"Well, sorry to disappoint you, but I didn't get shot down for a second time. That would mean I'd tried again, and well, I've given up on that." He took a long sip of coffee, but still swallowed and continued before Nobu could interrupt. "I gave up, okay? It's over. I shut those feelings away and I'm moving on and all that shitty bullcrap that people spout when they're hurt and-"

The bottom of Nobu's mug hit the coffee table just a second before Ian was interrupted by a pair of lips crushing against his own. He would have dropped his own mug, but Nobu had it firmly in hand, guiding it to the table as well before pulling his hand back up to firmly cup Ian's cheek. They sat that way for nearly half a minute, joined at the mouth, breathing against each other. Then Nobu pulled back, keeping his eyes fixed on Ian's, trying to ignore the shock that had spread across the gunman's face.

"Shut up and let me talk," Nobu said then, pulling his hand back to grip tightly at his knee. "I get it, you know? You like Souji. You like him a lot. We could all tell, alright? But he turned you down, and you're hurt." He took a deep breath, then moved his hand to rest gently on Ian's knee. "And that's okay. If you weren't hurt, it'd mean your feelings weren't real."

Ian looked away, trying to hide the stinging at the corners of his eyes. 

Nobu kept going. "But don't think that hurting yourself more is going to make the pain go away, okay? You've got friends. You've got a _team_ that's here to back you up. And at the very least, if you can't trust them...at least trust me."

Ian's shoulders bounced as he chuckled softly. "Mou, Nossan...when did you get that kind of wisdom, anyway?"

"Heh," Nobu replied with a chuckle of his own. "Can't be an old man without old age, after all."

"Oi." Ian shook his head, still looking away, towards an empty corner of the room. "So...I guess I'm staying here tonight?" 

Nobu nodded. "Futon's still set up. You can head out when you're sober. Deal?" He stuck out a hand, only half-expecting Ian to take it.

A moment passed before Ian eventually looked over to Nobu's hand. "Deal," he said, the hint of a smile on his face as he reached out for the handshake. "And I promise not to crawl into your bed this time."

Nobu's face twisted oddly for a moment, before settling into a relieved smile. "I'll consider that a bonus."

-

The sun rose and shone through the window, right onto Nobu's face. It always worked well as an alarm clock, for whenever he was rested enough to wake that early. Today was one of those days, somehow, and as his morning brain sorted through the circumstances of the night before, he became acutely aware of a delicious mix of odors wafting in from the kitchen.

His eyes flicked to Ian's futon, confirming the events from the night before. Despite the kiss that had kept his lips tingling for nearly an hour, nothing had happened between them, aside from climbing into their respective futons and calling it a night. Nobu was even beginning to think that he might be making some sense of the entire situation. 

For a moment he wondered if the gunman had woken up early enough to cook. But Ian was still buried under the covers, a tuft of black hair sticking up as proof of his continued presence. Puzzled, Nobu climbed to his feet, checking that he was decently enough dressed before wandering out into the kitchen.

On the counter sat a plate piled with cooked bacon, next to another platter of stacked biscuits. And standing by the stove, scrambling eggs in Nobu's favorite frying pan, was King.

"Good morning!"

Nobu, caught entirely off-guard, forced a grin in reply. Suddenly things made a whole lot less sense after all.


	3. In the Face

"Souji!"

Souji kept walking, sword propped up on his shoulder as he staunchly ignored the cries behind him. If he was lucky, his pursuer would give up and leave him be. 

He wasn't lucky. A hand clapped down on his shoulder, yanking him around to face Amy head-on. "Souji! Didn't you hear me? I've been calling after you for nearly two blocks now!"

Souji looked away, not quite up to scowling at Amy. "No," he lied. "Just trying to head home. I've got practice."

His teammate pegged him with a skeptical look. "Oh, practice, is it?" she asked, the tone of her voice making it clear that she didn't really believe him. "Then why don't you let me walk you home? It's the least I can do."

Fingernails digging in through the fabric of his shirt made it abundantly clear to Souji that he didn't really have a choice in the matter. Flushing, he met her eyes for just a moment before looking back to the sidewalk. "Fine," he muttered, letting out a sigh of relief as she released her grip. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her triumphant smile as they settled into step beside each other.

For a few moments, Souji almost let himself believe he was going to get away with it. Then they rounded a corner and he could see the expression on Amy's face. 

"This is an odd way to go home," she said innocently, giving him a sidelong look. 

Souji shrugged. "I'm taking a scenic route."

"Ah." There were a few more steps in silence. "See, it looks to me like you're running away from something."

Souji stumbled for a moment, temporarily forgetting which foot went in front of the other. "Me? Running away?" He forced himself to laugh, looking up at a nearby tree. "That's ridiculous."

"Yeah, it is," Amy countered smoothly, being careful to look straight ahead as she spoke. "You're stronger than that. I'd hate to think that you were running away from your problems."

It was another few steps before Amy realized that Souji wasn't beside her anymore, and she quickly turned around to look for him. He'd stopped a few yards back, one fist clenched, eyes lowered. Her heart sank, suddenly worrying that perhaps she'd pushed him too far.

Then he brought his eyes up and she could see that they weren't dark or angry. More accurately, they looked...afraid. She winced, taking a careful step back towards her youngest teammate. "Souji-kun...what's the matter? What happened?"

Souji looked away for another moment, taking a deep breath. "Do you...promise not to tell anyone?" He raised his head then, looking her straight in the eye, and Amy was surprised by the resolve she could see there. "Promise me."

She blinked, but didn't flinch away. If anything, she stood taller, straightening her shoulders in determination. "I promise."

Souji's eyes wavered away again. "Ian...confessed. To me."

~

_The flower wasn't his usual daisy. It wasn't even a carnation, or a clichéd red rose. It was a green rose, not even fully opened, and it was clutched nervously in Ian's outstretched hand._

_Souji barely even heard the pickup line, although he was vaguely aware it was significantly less cheesy than the ones he'd heard him use on countless women before. That wasn't what bothered him, not really._

_What really bothered him, more than anything else, was the sincere hope in Ian's eyes. Souji could *see* Ian's feelings, see his *heart*, and it scared him._

_Then the rose was in Souji's hand, Ian's hands clasped around his, warm and strong and Souji did the only thing he could think of: he pulled his other arm back and decked him._

~

For a moment there was near silence, only broken by a car as it barreled down the road beside them. Then, carefully, Amy took another step towards Souji. "Ian...confessed? You mean..."

"Affection. Intent. Whatever you want to call it." Souji could feel his fingernails digging into his palm, and he grounded himself off the vague pain. The moment of silence that followed went on too long, and he looked back to Amy.

His teammate was standing just a few steps away, lips pressed tightly together, obviously trying to hold back a grin. Souji stared at her, flabbergasted. "Are you...happy about that?"

"What?" Amy said, almost too quickly. "I mean, um, that is..." It was her turn now to look away, blush tinging the tops of her cheeks. "Is it...a bad thing? To be confessed to?"

"Is it a bad thing?" Souji nearly fell over in his shock at the suggestion. "Amy-san, Ian and I, we're both _boys_! I don't-" He sputtered for a moment, not entirely sure how else to word this that Amy wouldn't have already figured out. "I don't _like_ boys. Not like that."

He saw the glimmer of light die in Amy's eyes, and he couldn't help but sigh as he realized where her thoughts had already gone. "Sorry if that...ruins any sort of image you had of me." Shoulders slumping, he stuck his hand in his pocket and began to turn away, back down the way they'd just come. "Sorry to bother you with this."

It was another moment or two before he heard her calling for him again, but he kept walking. This time, she didn't follow.

~

The text message simply said "meet me at the park by your house". If it had been from anyone else, Souji would have ignored it completely. But it was from Amy's number, and so Souji slipped out the back door and walked to the park in the dark of night.

Most everyone else was already off the streets for the evening, but when he got to the park, he could see Amy sitting by herself on a swing. He double-checked, making sure that nobody else was looking, then walked over to sit on the swing beside her.

"Hey," he said quietly, looking out across the park.

Amy nodded in response, and the two sat in silence for several long moments.

"So there was this boy," Amy started eventually, and it would have taken Souji by surprise if he hadn't heard the breath she'd taken right before speaking. "In America. He was cute, you know? Not really popular, but that didn't matter to me.

"The problem was...my English was still really, really terrible. And I'd seen him turn down one or two other girls, so the thought of confessing to him was, well...almost paralyzing." A smile spread across Amy's face, and she looked down for a moment before continuing. "But I had to do something, you know? So I managed to catch him after class one day, and I had this line I'd rehearsed half a million times, where I'd tell him that I like him and ask him if he liked me back."

Amy twisted her hand in the swingset chain idly and laughed. "And I screwed it up! Really badly. My grammar was awful, my pronunciation was off...I embarrassed myself. And he ended up laughing in my face."

Souji bit his lip at that. "What...did you do then?" he asked gently.

Amy turned her head to grin at him broadly. "I kicked him in the face."

Souji nearly fell off the swing in surprise, his eyes and mouth wide. "You...what???"

Pushing herself slightly on the swing, Amy gave another laugh. "I couldn't help it! That was just so mean of him, laughing when I'd put so much effort into confessing. I wasn't going to let him go unpunished." She looked down, toeing at the dirt beneath her feet, still smiling from the memory. "I got in trouble, too. A week's detention for fighting. But at least I tried, right?"

There was a loud jingle of chains, and Amy looked over in surprise to see that Souji had very quickly stood up from the swing. Her heart raced with a sudden paranoia - she'd asked him out here and told him the story in hopes of putting him at ease, but maybe she'd managed to upset him even worse. Biting her lip, she watched as he took a few hesitant steps to stand right in front of her.

"Souji-kun?" she asked worriedly. "Did...I say something wrong?"

His head shook briefly, and she could see the tension in his neck. 

Amy leaned forward in the swing, trying to see up into his lowered face. "Then what's wrong?"

"Amy-san," he said almost immediately, as if he'd been screwing up the courage to say that since he'd stood up. She watched as he visibly swallowed. 

"I like you."

The words hung in the air, heavy and full of meaning, and Amy blinked. "You... _like_ me?" she repeated in confusion.

Souji nodded.

Amy paused, turning the thought over in her head, trying to make sense of it. But before she could get very far, she felt Souji's warm hands covering her own on the chain, his lips pressing softly - not at all forcefully - against hers.

Suddenly, it made quite a bit of sense. And as much as Amy wasn't sure of what to think of it, she didn't kick him in the face.

And that was all that Souji needed.


	4. Something We Could Do

Ian fidgeted lightly as he watched King from across the table. The three of them had just finished eating breakfast, awkward bites between alternating sections of heavy silence and forced small talk. But now Nobu had excused himself for a few minutes - saying he needed to check the mail - and Ian realized he couldn't really duck away gracefully any longer.

"Listen, King..." he began, his voice tinged with preemptive exasperation. "This...thing...doesn't need to involve anyone else, okay? I've got it well in hand, I promise. But I appreciate your concern, I do. I just need to...not worry about it for a while."

King watched him the whole while, elbow on the table, chin propped up on one hand as Ian spoke. When it was clear Ian was done, King gave him a look of partially-bemused sympathy. "So...Souji said 'no', huh?"

The simple question caught Ian so off-guard that he lost his balance, almost toppling over before he managed to grip hard at the table to keep himself upright. "I, I-" he started to stutter, breaking their casual eye contact in order to look around the room in a near-panic. "I mean, you're mistaken, I would never..." When his eyes finally returned to King, and saw the gentleness that was clearly etched on the leader's face, Ian let his shoulders deflate and slumped forward in defeat. "How...how did you know?"

King's answer was a sympathetic smile. Then he stood up, walking to the other side of the table to sit himself down by Ian's side. "We could all tell you liked him, Ian," he finally said with a knowing wink. "Maybe he didn't see it, but the rest of us did." King leaned into Ian then, nudging him gently with his shoulder. "I've been rooting for you, you know."

"Ugh." Ian let his eyes close, toppling forward until his forehead rested on the surface of the table. "I think that makes it worse, King."

A moment passed, and then he felt King's arm slide around his shoulders, a hand squeezing encouragingly at his upper arm. It was comforting, almost oddly so, and Ian was too caught up in his own misery to even think about pushing King away. Instead he let his head slide until his cheek was pressed against the table, his gaze facing the door. "Thanks," he said quietly. "I appreciate it."

Then King placed two fingers under Ian's chin, taking the gunman by surprise as his head was gently lifted upward. Ian blinked in confusion for a moment, until King pressed his lips against Ian's for a long, lingering moment.

It took a little while for the gears in Ian's head to process what was happening. Once they did, however, he steeled his own nerves and pulled away from King's sympathetic face. "Stop that," he said gently, but firmly, and went the extra length of pulling himself out from under King's arm as well. "This isn't something you..." He searched his vocabulary for a moment, trying to find the right words for what he was trying to say. "This isn't something you can fix with pity sex, King."

King pulled back, keeping his hand on the floor by Ian's hip, but respectfully ending the contact. "Sorry, didn't mean to go too far," he said with an embarrassed duck of his head. "But...are you sure? I mean, I know it can't fix _everything_ , but if you need a distraction, or just some comfort..."

"I know," Ian said with a sigh. "You're here for me. But can't you just take my word for this? A quick shag isn't going to make me forget him, you know."

King frowned at that, pushing down on his folded knees as he tried to piece the conversation together. "Well, of course not," he agreed. "I just thought..."

"That you could help, right?" Ian reached over, giving King a tired look as he patted his leader's knee. "Just knowing you care is enough, King. We don't have to jump into bed to get the point across."

Ian pulled his hand away, and the two sat in silence for a few moments, each losing themselves to their own thought processes. When nearly a minute had passed, King looked back over to Ian again with an innocent, thoughtful look. "Have you and Nossan hopped into bed yet, then?" he asked with utmost curiosity.

Ian sputtered, nearly choking on his own tongue at King's question. "What? N-no, we haven't, why in the world would you..." He tripped over his own words at that point, and when he finally managed to compose himself, he could see the simple confusion spreading across King's face. "No, King," he sighed, then reached up to rub the bridge of his nose. "Nossan and I haven't shagged. Even though I don't know why you're asking."

King spread his hands out behind him, leaning back and looking up at the ceiling as he mulled that over. "Do you want to? Sleep with Nossan, that is." He looked over to Ian before the gunman could respond. "I mean, you stayed here overnight. Would it make you feel better at all?"

Again Ian was caught trying not to choke. "I..." he said, before finally giving up. "I don't know, King." He shrugged then, a bit of his usual self showing through as he cracked a weak smile. "But if it happens, it'll be Nossan's call, not mine."

"Hmmm." King hummed his reply, sounding vaguely approving. "Well, the important part is you're okay," he finally said with a smile. "That's the reason I came over here, anyway."

Ian slid his hands back to unconsciously mimic King's pose, letting his eyes drift up to the ceiling as he tried not to think too hard about his next question. "And what about the boy?" he asked gently, fight hard to keep his voice smooth and even. "Has anyone checked up on him?"

King replied with a nod and a light grunt. "Yeah, Amy went after him. They talked, she said he's fine. So that's good, yeah?"

For a moment, Ian wanted to argue, but he fought it down. "...yeah."

The door opened then, and Nobu walked back into the room carrying a handful of bills, advertisements, and a brightly-colored flyer. "Sorry that took so long," he apologized as he came over to set the mail down on the table. "The mailbox must just have had breakfast, because it was _stuffed_."

Neither King nor Ian laughed at the joke, but that was so commonplace at this point that Nobu barely even noticed. Instead, he took a look at the table and noticed each glass was empty. "Ah, can I get you some more to drink? Hold on, let me do that." He swept the glasses up into his arms and puttered off into the kitchen, and was followed sounds of the fridge opening and liquid being poured. 

King took a sidelong glance at Ian as Nobu refilled their glasses, and when the handyman brought them back to the table, he waited until they were all seated before he spoke. "Ne, Nossan, speaking of stuffed..." King said carefully, taking a sip while watching over the rim of his glass. "Why don't the three of us sleep together?"

Unfortunately, his calculations were a little off, as within seconds he and Ian were covered with a thin spray of orange juice. Nobu clapped a hand across his mouth, doubly mortified by his unflattering spittake, and only just barely managed to put his glass down before scrabbling backwards from the table. "Y-y-y-you want to _what_?" he nearly squeaked incredulously, face already flushing pink.

Caught equally by surprise, Ian also sputtered for a moment before trying to come up with a cover story. "H-he's just joking, yeah?" he said with a weak laugh, trying to convince all three of them of that fabricated truth. "King, you joker!" Ian punctuated the excuse with a sharp punch to King's shoulder.

But King didn't budge, beyond wiping the juice off his face. "What? I wasn't joking," he said nonchalantly, then took another sip of his own drink. "We're all teammates here. It's something we could do, to relieve stress. If we wanted."

Panicked, Nobu shot Ian a desperate look. "Ian, d-does he, does he _know_...?"

Ian gave a sigh and covered his face with one hand. "He knows about the boy, yeah."

Nobu stared for another moment, trying to figure out if King might actually know about more than just Souji, but with no response he had to just suck it up and pray their stolen kisses were still a secret. "K-king, it's not that I, uh, don't respect you, because I do, I respect you a lot, I just, that is, I don't..."

It didn't take long into the ramble for King to put two and two together, and he moved on to his next question, completely unfazed by the stumbling rejection. "Well, if not the three of us, what about just you and Ian?"

Barely a moment passed before Nobu's face turned bright, beet red, and he scrambled up to his feet and stared at the two of them in utter shock. "I..I..." He swallowed, twitching, and took another step away. "I need to use the bathroom." Then he turned and darted down the hall, bathroom door slamming - and locking - shut behind him.

For a moment King looked disappointed, but then Ian whirled on him with a glare and a bark of anger. "What was that about?" he demanded, just barely keeping his voice beneath a shouting level. "You can't just _do_ that, King! Think about something other than your cock for a second here!"

King flinched back, confusion spread plainly across his face. "But I was," he countered. "I was thinking of the team. Of making all of us happy. Isn't that a good thing?"

Ian grimaced and leaned away from King. "All of us happy is a good thing, yeah. But you can't...you can't just assume someone's okay with that level of intimacy, King! Especially not Nossan!" He gestured towards the bathroom door with one hand. "He's skittish with first base, he's not exactly going to jump in bed with both of us just to make _me_ feel better!"

For a moment King was taken aback. "I...I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"You didn't think about that, I know," Ian interrupted, already calming down. "But just because you want to sleep with everyone on the team, doesn't mean we all share that sentiment, King."

King shrugged and gave Ian a weak smile. "I love everyone on our team, Ian. I just want to make everyone I love happy. Is that such a bad thing?"

Ian sighed. "Not...by itself, no. But not everything can be fixed with sex, King. I was just telling you this." Running a hand through his hair, he shifted up onto his knees and looked towards the door. Somehow he had a feeling it was already noon, and he really should be getting on with his day. Maybe this one could involve a little less bourbon this time.

"Hey," King said softly, reaching out to gently pat Ian's knee. "Sometimes people need to relax. I just want to do what I can...but I'm sorry if I pushed too much."

Ian looked away, a smiling lightly at King's apology. "You're forgiven," he said finally, before meeting King's eyes once more. "But lay off it, okay?"

"Gotcha," King answered with a grin and a mock salute. Ian rolled his eyes but the smile stayed on his face, and after another moment they both heard the bathroom door unlock and slowly creak open.

Sighing, Ian braced his hands on his knees. "It's safe, Nossan, I promise."

There was a shuffle of feet on the floor, and then Nobu appeared at the mouth of the hallway, face still flushed from embarrassment. "S-sorry about that," he mumbled, scratching the back of his head nervously. "It was a, uh, emergency."

"Don't worry about it, Nossan," King said swiftly, then stood up and dusted off the legs of his pants. "Anyway, I should get going. Haven't checked in at Tiger Boy yet today, after all." Giving them both a shining grin, he snatched up one last piece of bacon and munched on it as he headed towards the door. "See you both later, okay?" Slipping his shoes on, he gave them one last wave before sliding out the door.

"I should head out, too," Ian said, almost as soon as the door had clicked shut. He stood up and took a few steps towards the door, but then Nobu's hand was on his shoulder and he stopped dead in his tracks. "...Nossan?" When he turned to look, he was surprised to see concern on Nobu's face. "What is it?"

"Are you going to be okay?" The question was blunt, but honest, and Ian could see the concerned friend he'd depended on so heavily over the past two nights. "By yourself, I mean. I know it's been rough."

For a moment Ian stood there, taking comfort in Nobu's hand. Then he looked him in the eye and smiled what was possibly the most genuine smile he'd had in days. "Yeah, I think I'll be okay." He brought up his hand to clasp Nobu's gently for a moment, before lowering both of them back to their sides. "Thanks, Nossan."

Nobu nodded, the redness fading from his cheeks. "Anytime, Ian."

Ian slid his shoes on, giving Nobu one last nod before leaving the house. For a few moments Nobu waited by the door, then cracked it open to watch Ian as descended the stairs and headed back out onto the sidewalk. For a moment he was struck with the realization that King had definitely propositioned the both of them just a little while before, and that this was the last time he'd have the house to himself for at least a couple of weeks. 

"I should be _actioned_ for passing up that _action_ ," he muttered to himself, then let the door close.


	5. That's How It Works

Silence.

It was the best word to describe the Spirit Base at the moment. It's not that the room was deserted - far from it, as every active member of the team was currently there - but it was empty of the comradarie it usually fostered. 

If he had to figure out the cause, King was fairly certain the awkwardness had descended right when Souji and Amy had entered the base together. They weren't holding hands, or showing any blatantly obvious sign of affection that even King could easily pick up on. But there were some more subtle hints, like Souji's eyes constantly flickering over to Amy's face, his eagerness at getting her magazine or a drink, that gave it away.

No, King was sure of it: Souji and Amy were definitely closer now than they were before. And normally he'd be celebrating such a thing, because teammates becoming closer is a good thing for the entire team. 

Unfortunately, Ian had noticed it too. 

The gunman was making a concerted effort to stay calm and composed. He'd avoided commenting on their teammates' newfound closeness completely, but his attempts at injecting any lighthearted mood into the conversation had fallen utterly flat. So instead he'd taken to sitting sideways on a bench, keeping his eyes away from Souji and Amy while keeping himself from running away from the situation entirely.

Nobu was quiet as well, although King had taken note that he was sitting closer to Ian than he was to anyone else in the room. They weren't nearly as close as Souji and Amy were, but King had a feeling there was still something there, even if they both denied it. 

More than anything, though, King felt pity for their sixth member, who was hopelessly confused as to why the entire group was so uncomfortably quiet. Ucchi had tried numerous times to get a lively conversation going, or a round of sword practice, or even crack a joke, but none of his attempts had really stuck. So he sat by King's side, moping, as the ice in the room grew thicker.

In the end, King wasn't surprised at all that Ian cracked first. 

"Well, as much as I'd love to spend the rest of the day shooting the breeze, I've got better, prettier targets in mind," Ian said smoothly as he climbed to his feet and started walking towards the entrance. He waved nonchalantly without looking back as he stepped up onto the dias. "Call me if something comes up." Light flashed from his Gaburevolver, and then he was gone.

"Ah, mou..." Nobu fidgeted at the table, his eyes flicking over towards Souji and Amy. Souji had only barely paid Ian's exit any attention, and was too busy intently reading over Amy's shoulder, even though Amy was looking at the dias with obvious concern. 

King watched Nobu wrestle internally with his own feelings, before eventually standing up and walking over to rest a tense hand on King's shoulder. "I think I should probably head out too," the handyman said, trading a knowing look with King before taking a few more casual steps towards the entrance. "I promised I'd pick up some snacks on the way home, and if I forget, Yuuko is likely to have a _chip_ on her shoulder." After a few more steps and another flash of light, Nobu was gone as well.

Already the awkwardness in the room was diminished, and King nearly breathed a sigh of relief. It caught in his throat, however, as he looked over and saw Amy almost as tense as the others had been just a few moments before. Oddly enough, King realized that out of the four of them left in the base, Souji was the only one unaffected by any of the obvious social tension.

"Ah, Amy, Souji," King started, carefully trying to bring their spirits up. "Got any plans for the rest of the day? I was walking around the other day and found this amazing little ice cream shop, and thought maybe we could-"

"Maybe some other time," Amy interrupted, her wary grin the most obvious indicator of her distress. "I've got homework to do, actually. I should get going." For a moment King debated the wisdom of telling her to bring her homework to the base, but when he saw how quickly she stood and started walking to the entrance, he realized that wasn't going to help in the least. 

Souji blinked as Amy rose to her feet, nearly scrambling in his haste to follow behind. "Here, let me walk you home, Amy-san," he said, grabbing his practice sword and shoving it underneath his arm as they walked towards the entrance. As Amy pulled her Gaburevolver to take them from the base, King noticed Souji giving him an apologetic grin. Then another flash, and it was just him and Ucchi.

"King-dono," Ucchi began almost immediately, and King wasn't in the least bit surprised. "Perhaps I may be rude in pursuing this line of questioning, however, the events of this afternoon have me quite concerned about the cohesion of our team as a unit." As always, the words were formal and a bit stilted, but they came in such a rush of worried force that King knew that they were meant in the best manner possible.

"Ah, yeah, there's been some stuff going on," King admitted finally, letting out a sigh and leaning back onto the table. "You managed to miss the little stuff, but I think we're seeing all of it bundle up into one big mess now."

Ucchi shook his head, the tip of his ponytail shifting back and forth across the sword on his back. "I do not understand what could cause this sort of divide among us. Is there anything that can be done?"

King laughed for a moment, more out of relief that Ucchi cared so much, than any sort of frustration. "I want to know that, too!" he said with a shrug, looking over at his glimmering teammate. "Seems like all of this could be solved with a bit of bonding, but Ian doesn't really want me to try and fix it on my own. So I'm not really sure what else I can do to help."

For a moment they sat in ponderous silence, Ucchi's face twisting as he thought through the situation. "What is the problem, King-dono, if I may ask? It seems that we might be able to come up with a solution together, if I were to be aware of the details."

"Ah, well, I guess it's kinda tricky? But also kinda not." King pushed off from the table and sat upright, stretching his arms up towards the ceiling. "Thing is, Ian likes Souji, but Souji kinda turned him down, and now it looks like Souji likes Amy. But I've got a good feeling Ian likes Nossan, too! And maybe Nossan likes Ian. So it's complicated in a really simple way, you know?"

Ucchi sat and blinked for several long seconds as his mind processed King's explanation. "Souji-dono...denied Ian-dono's advances?" he finally asked, puzzled.

King nodded. "Yeah, pretty much. Ian's pretty torn up over it, too."

"I do not understand," Ucchi replied, almost immediately. "Is it not healthy and normal for two teammates to bond in such a manner? Why would Souji-dono refuse an opportunity to increase the team's effectiveness by way of intimacy?"

A giant grin broke out on King's face, and he slapped Ucchi companionably on the shoulder. "I _knew_ you'd get it!" he crowed, before settling his hands on his knees. "I don't understand it either! But Ian gave me this big speech about not being able to fix things, and really, a lot of it went right over my head." He sighed and scratched at the back of his head. "I mean, it makes sense, doesn't it? That kind of comfort and closeness in a team?"

Ucchi nodded in agreement, his previously stern face softening from being praised by his leader. "Indeed."

King only barely heard the word, as he was busy still bolstering himself by Ucchi's agreement. "I mean, if you and I were to have sex, it'd just make things stronger between us, right? That's how it _works_."

There was a pause, and for a moment King had an unsettling feeling that maybe he'd been wrong all along. But then there was a flurry of fabric and hair, and suddenly Ucchi was kneeling in front of him, bowing, hands firmly on his knees. "King-dono! I would be most honored to have the opportunity to bring pleasure to you in that manner!"

King stared for a second, then grinned once more. "Of course you have the opportunity!" Leaning over, he clapped a friendly hand on Ucchi's shoulder. "Just say the word, Ucchi. Whenever you want."

The swordsman craned his head upward, looking King somewhat nervously in the eye. "Then, would it be at all inconvenient if I were to perhaps say that I would like that opportunity at this moment...?"

The other four team members were already out of the base, unlikely to be returning any time soon - if at all that day - and King was far beyond concerned about being walked in on anyway. He was also fairly certain that nothing could be fixed by running out after said teammates, and at this point, a bit of relaxation would be fairly welcome. "Not at all," he said, reassuring Ucchi with a gentle squeeze. "I guess you could say I'm kinda honored myself!"

Ucchi's eyes shone brightly, and he ducked his head again in gratitude before reaching for the hand on his shoulder. "Then I beg you, King-dono, please permit me to begin in the manner with which I am best acquainted." Pulling King's hand to his mouth, he placed a gentle kiss on each knuckle before moving the hand back to King's knee. Then his fingers were at the fly of King's pants, and after a moment of shifting on each of their parts, King's pants and boxers were pooled on the floor.

King smiled down at the swordsman, scooting a bit more forward on his seat as his fingers found their way into Ucchi's hair. "Is this what you want, then?" he asked, the grin evident in his voice. He watched Ucchi kiss a path up his thigh, and was pleased to feel himself rise in response to the attention. "Then be as wild as you'd like."

Ucchi took a moment to give King a dazzling smile before getting down to business, and for the first time, King finally understood exactly how skilled a fully trained samurai could be.


	6. Volunteering

What had started as a simple walk turned into a slight trot, and Nobu was nearly jogging by the time he was through the door of Tiger Boy. The sky was already darkening, the street lamps starting to flicker on as the sun set, but it was still light enough out for Nobu to see his intended target. He bit back the urge to call out, and instead jogged up and placed a gentle hand on the leather-clad shoulder.

"Ian," he started softly, hoping he hadn't taken his teammate too badly by surprise. "Is everything oka-"

There was a whirl of black and Nobu pulled his hand back in surprise, staring open-mouthed at Ian's angry face. "I-I guess that's a 'no', huh?" 

It didn't seem right to Nobu, that Ian would be scowling in that way. It felt like something he should be seeing in the midst of battle, when a loved one had been threatened, not when he'd come running after a friend in obvious distress. 

"Nossan," Ian ground out, his voice a strained mix between forced patience and barely-contained anger. "I left because I didn't want to be there anymore. I don't think I want to be around _anyone_ right now, okay?" His eyes darted down, towards the sidewalk, and Nobu could see the tension in his shoulders. "Just let me go."

Frowning, Nobu reached out again, putting a gentle hand on Ian's upper arm. "Let you go where, though?" he asked softly, once he confirmed that Ian hadn't pulled away. "Back to another bar somewhere? To an empty apartment?" He stopped himself from mentioning one of Ian's many girlfriends, knowing it was unlikely that Ian was in any shape to be womanizing at the moment. "I don't know if I can do that."

Ian laughed, darkly, and for a moment Nobu was reminded of the night he'd pulled a drunken Ian off the street and into his truck. It was that same sort of bitter mirth, something that fell far short from actual amusement, and it sent a shiver down his spine. "Is that what it is, then?" Ian said, his voice low and dangerous. He lifted his gaze to meet Nobu's, and something glimmered in his eyes. "Or is there maybe something more?"

Nobu blinked, caught off guard by the sudden shift in Ian's demeanor. "Something...more?" he asked carefully, not quite sure he wanted to try guessing exactly what Ian's intent might be. "I-I'm not sure I know what you mean...?"

His trailing question was cut off as Ian spun around to face him, hand trailing up his arm to grip Nobu's wrist tightly. "Are you really that naive, Nossan?" Ian asked, adding a teasing lilt to Nobu's nickname. He pushed himself flush against the older man, forcing the two of them back several feet until they disappeared into an alleyway, Nobu's back thudding against a dumpster. "Or are you just playing with me?"

The change in position took Nobu by surprised, and he could feel his heart racing as if they were actually fighting. He could feel, just instinctively, that Ian wasn't exactly putting forth his full strength. In fact, he was fairly certain he could break Ian's hold with little effort. But there was something about the firmness of Ian's grip, the proximity of their bodies, that made him wonder if he should really try to escape just yet. 

After all, this was _Ian_. His teammate. He trusted him with his _life_. 

"I'm not playing," he said seriously, even through the waver in his voice. His brain cut in with a fairly amusing joke, but for once, Nobu was sure it wasn't the right time. "I don't think you should be alone right now." 

Ian smiled, and Nobu was reminded of a predator catching its prey. "Then I suppose you're volunteering." Then Ian's lips were against his, and Nobu's eyes went wide.

Their first kiss had been when Ian was in a drunken daze. Their second, when Nobu had needed a way to get Ian's attention. This kiss, their third...was entirely different.

He knew something was wrong in it, that something was wrong with Ian. But Ian was unforgiving in his attentions, and when the gunman's tongue worked its way along his lips, Nobu felt his legs turn to jelly. The dull ache in his wrist faded, and he let his free hand wrap around Ian's waist, pulling them even closer together. Ian's warmth was comforting somehow, strong and familiar and not entirely unwelcome. When Ian's teeth scraped along his lower lip, Nobu's eyes slid shut and he moaned, the sound filling the darkened alley.

The moan's echo hadn't even faded before the warmth was gone, and it was another moment before Nobu had processed the loss enough to open his eyes. Ian had stepped back, one hand at his lips, while staring at Nobu in what could only be described as horrified shock. 

Nobu forced his legs to cooperate enough to prop himself up against the dumpster, then gave a Ian a worried look. "Ian...?" he asked quietly. "What's wrong?"

"I'm..." Ian mouthed around his fingers, then shook his head violently. "Nossan, I'm sorry." Then he turned and ran.

The alley grew quiet as Nobu stood there, leaning hard against the dumpster that was becoming seemingly colder by the second. Nobu waited until his breath had gone back to normal before he tried walking again, testing his legs out carefully before stumbling back onto the sidewalk. He looked up and down the street, scanning for a familiar dark figure, but saw nothing, and the pleasant rush from a few minutes before turned into an ugly lump settling in his stomach.

Stunned, he let his legs guide him on autopilot, and soon found himself back through the doorway of Tiger Boy, back through the entrance to the Spirit Base. He vaguely noted that people were still there, but he was too focused on sitting down that he didn't pay them - or their startled greetings - any notice.

It was another minute or two before everything started sorting itself out in his head, albeit in reverse order. He looked over to where King and Ucchi sat, staring at him in surprise and concern, and realized that Ucchi was still kneeling exactly where he had been when Nobu had stumbled in. His eyes traveled upward, taking in King's mussed clothing, the rose tinge on his leader's cheeks, and suddenly Nobu realized what had been going on.

"Sorry," he said, with a somewhat embarrassed nod of his head. "My mood's kind of a little _black_ right now." Then he slumped forward, cheek resting on the cool stone tabletop, teammates rushing to his side as he let the world fade away for a little while.


	7. Involuntary Time

Ucchi walked towards the dojo with more purpose than he could really remember feeling, outside of battle. In any other situation he'd feel more self-conscious about his determination, but in this case, anything less would have felt weak. It would have been like a betrayal of his friend and teammate.

It had been a long night, as he and King had hefted the fallen Nossan between them and walked him back to his place of residence. Yuuko had met them at the door, expressing concern and offering to help, but King had insisted on being the one to lay him down in his futon. Ucchi could only stand by and watch as his leader gently and lovingly pulled a blanket over Nossan's body, feeling the bite of concern in his stomach as he felt more and more useless.

This wasn't  _right_ . It wasn't how a team was supposed to function, and it certainly wasn't something that should happen at all.

King had stayed behind to speak with Yuuko, although Ucchi had already been thoroughly distracted with his own thoughts by that point. He'd begged to be excused, then began walking towards the Rippukan family dojo with all the authority that he could muster.

He might not be able to solve this problem by himself, but he was at least going to try.

His momentum carried him all the way to the side door of the dojo, one that he'd entered many times before in his sparring sessions with the young swordsman. He hesitated for only a moment before opening the door, trusting that he would find Souji in the place that the boy felt most at home.

He wasn't mistaken. Souji was there, swinging his sword by himself in the empty dojo. Ucchi took a step forward, not entirely sure how to announce himself, but the door falling shut behind him took care of that on its own. Souji snapped out his training daze, eyes wandering the room for a moment before focusing on Ucchi's presence.

Something in the samurai's stomach twisted as he saw the smile spread across Souji's face. It was pure and true, and suddenly the gravity of the situation settled even more heavily on his shoulders.

“Ucchi,” Souji greeted him warmly, standing at attention and giving him a small bow. “Did you come to practice? Or...” He saw the look on Ucchi's face, the discomfort that was plainly evident there, and his smile began to fade. “Is something the matter? I didn't get a call on my MoBuckle...”

Ucchi shook his head, still stumbling over how to begin the conversation. “No, Souji-dono, the city is safe as far as I am aware. I have come to discuss...other, more personal matters. If you would be willing, that is.”

He watched as confusion flitted across Souji's face, followed by understanding. Then the boy's features darkened, his eyes looking away to an equally dark corner of the room. “I don't know what there is to talk about,” he said simply. “I'm dating Amy, there's really little else to be said on the subject.”

Ucchi couldn't help but frown. It felt too much like Souji was deliberately missing the entirety of the problem. “I did not come here to discuss your personal relationship with Amy-dono,” he said carefully, taking a few steps closer to where Souji was standing. “I think you and I are both aware, however, of the precarious emotional state another of our teammates has found himself in. I fear that it is causing a rift in our team, and I would like to-”

“Would like to  _what_ ?” Souji snapped suddenly, pulling his gaze around to pin Ucchi with an angry look. “Would like to  _fix_ things? Would like to  _fix_ me? Is it  _my_ fault that Ian likes me like that? Is it  _my_ fault that I don't like him that way in return?” Even in the dim lights of the empty dojo, Ucchi could see the tears starting to well up at the corners of Souji's eyes. “How is it  _my_ fault the team's such a mess, if Ian only showed me any respect because he wanted to f-” Souji stumbled in his tirade, rethinking his words at the last second. “...because he wanted to date me?”

“What? No!” Ucchi responded immediately, even if he wasn't entirely sure what question he was replying to in the first place. “You are not broken, Souji-dono, and I did not mean to imply as such! I am simply aware of the schism that is forming, and want to discuss a possible solution so that we can-”

“Well, you  _can't_ .” The words were loud and firm, and Ucchi started at the venom in Souji's voice. “If Ian has a problem with me, or with me and Amy being together, then he can leave the team himself.  _I_ am not going to give up my  _happiness_ just to make his life easier!”

Ucchi gaped for a moment, completely taken aback. “I never, that is, I have no intent of asking you to-”

Again Souji interrupted, this time to turn his back to the startled samurai. “Good. Then we have nothing left to discuss. Good night, Ucchi.”

The determination from before was almost forgotten as Ucchi stood there, watching as Souji stormed through the dojo door and back into his own house. It was another minute or two before he gathered himself enough to turn and leave, the ugly feeling in the pit of his stomach only growing heavier by the minute.

His only plan had failed, and he hadn't a clue what to do about it.

-

Amy raised her fist to the door and pounded.

She could hear her knocking echo through the apartment beyond, so she knew it was definitely loud enough. And she'd jiggled the door handle enough to know that the chain was drawn across the doorway, meaning that the owner absolutely  _had_ to be at home. Now all she had to do was continue making a racket until he gave up and let her inside.

The pounding also echoed down the hallway, and at this hour of the morning, there were bound to be plenty of nosy neighbors awake and wondering what was going on. So if he didn't answer the door for her sake, he might do it just to avoid the gossip that would inevitably start to spread.

She paused, wondering if she'd heard a rustling on the other side of the door. But when nothing happened, she slammed her fist against the wood three more times until she finally heard the doorknob start to turn.

A moment later the door opened, just as far as the chain would allow, and a ragged voice slid through the crack. “I'm  _trying_ to sleep,” he snapped, obviously annoyed. “So go away.”

“No,” Amy shot back immediately, and shoved her toe into the crack as far as it would go. “I need to talk to you.”

The voice snorted. “I don't  _want_ to talk to you. So go away.”

“Too bad.” Amy eyed the hinges of the door, contemplating how much force she'd have to use to kick it down. “I'm not really giving you a choice here, Ian. Let me in.”

There was a moment's pause, then Ian's voice came again, this time far more clear, although Amy could now hear the familiar flirting lilt in it. “As much as I love to see a pretty lady, Amy, I doubt your  _boyfriend_ would like to hear that you were alone in my apartment with me. So, you understand, I  _must_ decline.”

Amy frowned and gave an exasperated sigh. “Let me in, Ian, or I  _will_ kick your door in.”

Another pause, as Ian undoubtedly debated the severity of the threat. Then, with a defeated sigh, he closed the door enough to slide off the chain before reopening it. “Fine. Let it be known I  _tried_ .”

Amy swiftly stepped through the entrance and was immediately surprised by the darkness of the room. There was a small lamp on in the far corner, and some sunlight filtering in at the corners of the curtains, but that was it. Her eyes began to adjust as Ian quietly closed and locked the door behind them.

“Alright, you're here,” he said, his voice hoarse once more. “Say your piece.”

“I want to see you first.” Her eyes were starting to get used to the dark, and she wanted to see Ian's reactions while she was talking. She turned slowly, making out the lines of shadows, until she was certain she could see Ian's. “Can't you turn on a light?”

Ian's shadow gestured over towards the lamp in the corner. “I have one on. Now stop stalling and  _talk_ .”

Amy sighed. “Fine.” She reached out, grabbing Ian by the arm, and dragged them both over to his couch to sit. “I want to talk about Souji.”

The atmosphere and Ian's voice both turned cold. “If you're looking for love advice, Amy- _chan,_ you have definitely come to the wrong man.”

“I  _don't_ want to date him, Ian.”

Ian snorted. “Does  _he_ know that?”

Finally, after coming all this way, Amy began to deflate. “...no, I don't think he does,” she admitted, looking down at her hands. “He told me everything, about...about you two, and then he told me he likes me and I...” She sighed, noticing the way her thumb was twitching. “I couldn't tell him no.”

Silence fell for a long moment, until Amy found the strength to look back up at Ian. His mouth was set in a firm line, casting an odd shadow on his face in the darkened room. “Are you angry at me?”

“...no,” Ian finally answered, his voice quiet. “But what are you going to do, Amy? It's only been a few days. You should...” He cleared his throat, some of the roughness from before fading away. “You should end it. Before it goes too far.”

“I know,” she replied, just as quietly. “He's going to be upset.”

Ian chuckled. “Yeah, well, he's going to have to get used to it. He's still young.”

Amy rolled her eyes and gave him a small smile. “ _Tell_ me about it. He's like a little puppy dog. It's actually getting on my nerves.”

For a moment Ian studied her carefully. “I can't help much more with this, Amy. Was there...something else you wanted to talk about?” He watched as she fidgeted, looking away again. “Or should I say...some _one_ else?”

She blushed, bright enough to light up the room, and Ian had a feeling his involuntary time as counselor wasn't up quite yet.


	8. It's Okay

Nobu opened his eyes, feeling more rested than he could remember having been in weeks. The comfortable feeling beneath him indicated that he was in his futon, and sure enough, the slowly-focusing surroundings corroborated that theory. This much rest was an oddity, though, and he reached up to blearily rub at his eyes as he tried to remember why he'd fallen asleep so early the night before.

He remembered leaving the Spirit Base, presumably to grab some snacks to bring home for Yuuko and Rika. That made sense, at least, even if the snack run was an excuse to get out of the heavily awkward atmosphere of the Spirit Base. Bit by bit his memory returned, and Nobu recalled running after Ian, wanting to make sure the gunman was going to be alright.

The next memory was that of his back up against cold metal, Ian's warm lips against his own.

Eyes going wide, Nobu sat up in his futon, bringing his hands to his head. He remembered the rejection, Ian's back as he walked away, and then...nothing. Well, not quite, he still had some vague recollections. The yellow stone of the Spirit Base. His feet half-dragging on the pavement. Worried voices around him.

“Oh, good, you're awake.”

Another such voice sounded from beside him, and Nobu blinked away his tears to look in that direction. He saw the red and yellow smudge of his leader's vest, and could even make out King's relieved smile through the blurriness. “King...” he mumbled, not at all sure of what was going on. “Why...are you here?”

King was sitting cross-legged, leaning towards his futon with a familiar look on his face. It was the expression he always wore when he had to explain something difficult, and was going to oversimplify it terribly. “You kinda went out of it, back in the Spirit Base, so Ucchi and I brought you home. You've been out all night, Rika-chan's at school and Yuuko-san went to cover your jobs.” He must have noticed the horror on Nobu's face then, as he followed up with a gentle wave of his hand. “Don't worry about it! Yuuko-san put you in my care, she said you could have the day off of work.”

Nobu looked at King's confident smile and wished some of that strength would rub off. “Still, to inconvenience Yuuko because of something like this...” He pulled his knees up under his chin, huddling forward on the futon. “I really am pretty pathetic, aren't I?”

“No, not at all,” King replied immediately, frowning as he moved to place a gentle hand on Nobu's shoulder. “Hey, if you need time, then you need time. Being that out of it and working would've just ended badly, yeah?”

“I suppose.” Nobu sighed, unconsciously leaning into King's touch.

King took it a step further, sliding his arm around Nobu's shoulder and pulling the older man to rest against him. Nobu complied, almost boneless, and King held him tight. “Hey. If you want to talk about it, I'm here. If not, that's fine too. Whatever you need, Nossan, I'm here for you.”

“I just...” Nobu trailed off with a sigh. “I don't know, King. I don't know what I need anymore.”

The arms around him squeezed gently, and Nobu found himself curling further into King at the gesture. “That's okay too.” King ducked his head down slightly, pressing a gentle kiss against the unruly curls.

“King, I...”  _I really like Ian_ , was what Nobu was trying to say, but he couldn't make the words materialize. He sighed again, seeking more of the warmth that was King's touch.

“Shhh,” King whispered against his hair. “It's okay.” And then he shifted, moving his hand to pull Nobu's chin up with two gentle fingers, and pressed a soft kiss against his teammate's lips.

For a moment, Nobu's thoughts turned from a tumultuous cacophony to blessed, blank static. He could feel King's lips against his, warm and careful. He could feel the strong arms around him, holding him close and tight. And in that ocean of sensation, Nobu could forget about his troubles and just relax.

When the kiss finally ended, Nobu realized his eyes had fallen shut, and he let his head sink forward against King's. “...King...” he murmured quietly, still feeling the brush of his lips against his leader's.

King slid his hand around to gently caress Nobu's cheek. Ian's words from a few days before echoed quietly in the back of his head, and he gave Nobu another soft kiss. “Is this...okay, Nossan?”

The older man sighed, and King thought to himself that it almost felt wistful. “It's...okay, King.”

King would have doubted that, perhaps, if it weren't for the fact that Nobu himself initiated the next kiss. Any and all doubts were pushed from his mind entirely as the handyman's arms wrapped themselves around his neck, dragging them both down to the futon together.

~

The light in the room began to dim as the sun set. King looked to the doorway, wondering if he should disentangle himself so he could turn the lamp on. But then Nobu sighed softly in his arms, shifting a little closer to him, and he decided the light could continue to dim.

He could hear a door open and shut a few walls away, and knew that Yuuko had returned home, likely with Rika in tow. It'd just be a matter of moments before one, or both, of them came to check on Nobu – unfortunately, nowhere near enough time to properly arrange themselves to avoid interrogation.

King let his own eyes fall shut, figuring it'd be best if he fell asleep as well, if just to avoid the questions that would inevitably wake Nobu from his hard-earned sleep.


	9. Stupid Things

A pair of children played on the slide in the distance, another three on the jungle gym nearby. Amy walked by them nervously, trying to use their blissful ignorance and happy laughter as strength to bolster her courage. She never would have guessed that her regular life would require just as much bravery as her hero life, but it made things easier to think about when she used those kinds of terms.

She called on that bravery as she saw Souji on the swingset, right where they'd been when he'd confessed to her a few nights before. Her gut twisted at the thought of what she was about to do, but she knew she couldn't keep things going much longer, not like this. Especially when she could so clearly see what it was doing to the team as a whole.

“Amy-san...!” Souji called out as she approached, and stood up from the swing. “I got your message...what did you want to talk about?”

Amy winced. “Ah, Souji-kun,” she started gently, “I'm sorry to call you out like this, I just...needed to say this.”

She saw the shadow flicker across his face. “...say what?” he asked carefully, but she could tell by the tone of his voice that he already suspected the truth.

Biting her lip, Amy took another breath to compose herself. Then she glued her hands to her sides as she bent herself into a deep, formal bow. “I'm sorry!” she said quickly, keeping her eyes on the ground beneath their feet. “I can't date you, Souji-kun. I'm sorry if that hurts you.”

“...eh?” Souji's voice was small, but obviously pained. “Amy-san, are you...”

Amy chewed on her lip as she brought herself back upright again. “I guess I'm breaking up with you, Souji-kun.” She took a step closer, grabbing Souji's arm gently with one hand. “It's not that you're not a good person. But for me...” Amy sighed and let her hand slide back down to her side. “You're not really the person I want. I hope you can forgive me for that.”

“Amy...” Souji said tightly. “I-I don't know...if I can...”

Nodding, Amy straightened herself entirely, locking her fists by her thighs. “Then you're going to have to get over it as best you can,” she said firmly, finally finding the strength to look him in the eyes. “Hit me, Souji-kun. You'll feel better for it.”

Souji reeled back, his eyes wide and shocked. “H-hit you? Amy-san, I could never-”

“But you need to,” she argued, holding her ground. “How else are we going to fight side-by-side? I can't date you, but we _have_ to work together. I've hurt you, so...you have to hurt me back. Then we're even, right?” She gave him a smile, one more genuine than any she'd given him in the last few days. “It's only fair, Souji-kun. Hit me.”

Amy watched as Souji swallowed hard, one hand balling into a loose fist at his side. “I-I don't want to,” he said shakily. “I don't. Can't we...still be teammates, without that?”

“Can we?” she shot back easily. “Can you get over me, and yourself, enough to put things back to the way they were?”

For a while Souji said nothing, and Amy could see that he was working through several things in his own head. Emotions flashed across his face, ranging from pain to sadness to anger, until he finally settled on a strange sort of resignation. His head tilted forward, and he chuckled bitterly. “I...get it,” he finally said, his voice strained. “I think I actually get it.”

Shaking his head, he took a step back from Amy, dropping into a full bow of his own. “Please forgive me!” he said loudly. “I've...been a fool. A stupid kid, in the end.”

Amy stepped forward almost immediately, closing that gap. “Souji-kun...” she said gently, putting a hand on his shoulder. “It's okay. We all do stupid things sometimes. It just happens.”

Souji slowly pulled himself upward again, still keeping his gaze to the side. “Can you forgive me, Amy-san? For being so selfish.”

Smiling, she pulled her hand back. “Only if you can forgive me first.”

“I...” Souji looked to the ground, before pulling his gaze up to somewhere around Amy's shoulder. “I'll try. I promise.”

Amy sighed in relief. “Then I'll do the same,” she said, holding herself back from hugging Souji in sympathy. “Ne, why don't we celebrate it together? Parfaits back at Tiger Boy?”

“Ah...” Souji shook his head emphatically, sticking his hands in his pockets. “I think...I might need another day. If that's okay...?”

Again Amy smiled. “Of course. See you tomorrow, then?” Souji nodded in response, then turned away and began walking back towards his house. Amy watched him until he was out of sight, then let herself fully relax. She'd been so anxious, she'd almost gotten used to the tension in her shoulders. Now some of it melted away, and she felt nearly back to her regular self.

Of course, she still had one thing on her list to do. Slapping her cheeks lightly to energize herself, she turned back towards Tiger Boy, trying her best not to keep her fingers crossed on the way.

~

The light shimmered around her, followed by the Spirit Base fading into view, and Amy hopped off the transport mat with a smile on her face. “Good afternoon~!” she called out, then stopped dead in her tracks.

King was in the Spirit Base, just as she'd calculated. She'd already known that Ian wouldn't be there at this time, and had passed Ucchi leaving on the way in, so she had a pretty good feeling that King would've been there all alone, and possibly feeling a bit lonely.

But that thought shot out of her head as she stood there, watching King's fingers feather through the curls on Nossan's head, holding their lips together with such gentle ferocity that she nearly forgot to breathe. Within another second the kiss was broken, Nossan turning towards her sudden intrusion, utterly dazed and fairly confused. “A-Amy..?” he asked, his voice breaking slightly.

King blinked, letting go of Nossan's head as he turn to look at the teammate who'd just joined them. “Ah! Good afternoon!” he said with a grin and a wave. “Everything okay?”

Amy took a shaky step backward. “I-I'm sorry,” she said, forcing a smile much less real than the one she'd just given Souji a little while before. “I didn't mean-”

The look on Nossan's face was one of pure horror. “Amy, it's...it's not what it-”

“Sorry!” she blurted out again, before turning around and running right back to the teleport pad and out of the Spirit Base. And as she ran through the city and back towards her home, she wondered if maybe it had been a stupid idea to crush on anyone in the team in the first place, let alone someone as frustratingly obtuse as King.


	10. Straightforward

Ian sat in his darkened apartment, staring down at the light that shone from his Mobuckle. It was just a simple message on the screen, but he kept reading it over and over, turning the screen back on every time it would blink off from inactivity.

This was the second message that he'd received in the last hour. The first one had taken him by surprise, just a few minutes after Amy was supposed to have ambushed King in the Spirit Base:

> _nvm, mission failed, he already has someone_

Ian had paused for a moment, then smiled, and typed back a quick reply asking for clarification. He wouldn't have been surprised if King and Ucchi had been in the middle of something as she'd walked in, quite honestly. And he had a sneaking suspicion that King probably had a thing going with Torin, too. So Amy walking into that would obviously shake her, but she probably wouldn't have stuck around long enough to find out that King pretty much just wanted to get with everyone in the team.

It'd been a long few minutes, but then he'd gotten the second text, the one that had him staring at the screen with emotions he couldn't quite place:

> _did u know nossan and king are seeing each other?_

He stared at the names. The second one made sense, of course. The first one didn't.

He looked at it again.  _Nossan_ .

He blinked, rubbed his eyes.  _Nossan_ .

After nearly five straight minutes of staring at the screen, he typed back a short, negative reply, and let the device fall to his side. His head tilted back as he stared at the dark ceiling, trying to get a hold of the emotions tumbling through his head and heart.

It was then that there was a knock at his door.

He listened to the knock for a while, vaguely trying to place it while remaining as detached as possible. It wasn't the deliberate pounding of Amy, so it wasn't likely to be her. It didn't have the sharp, rapping strength of King, either. He didn't think anyone else even really knew where his apartment was, so he listened to the knocking for a few minutes more before finally prying himself off the couch. If the knocker hadn't given up by now, after all, they weren't about to give up anytime soon.

Ian plodded to the door, turning the lock and opening it before he even thought to look through the peephole. He regretted it almost immediately, and his heart sank to the bottom of his stomach as he saw the first glimpse of the green and gold uniform sleeve.

“...boy,” he eventually rasped, keeping his eyes down and locked on the sleeve. “...why are you here?”

There was a pause, longer than usual between them, before Souji finally replied. “...I'm sorry, Ian,” he said, and Ian could hear the remorse in his voice. “...can we talk?”

Ian's eyes darted up to Souji's face, and he saw the boy's eyes looking off to the side awkwardly. He thought for a long moment, warring with his own already-tumultuous emotions, before giving a slight nod. “...sure,” he said, and opened the door further. “...come on in.”

Souji walked into his apartment with no small amount of humility, something Ian could clearly see in the boy's neck and shoulders. He felt a mix of anger, jealousy and sadness all tumble around in his stomach. He was so distracted by his own feelings that Souji had been waiting inside the door for more than a minute before he snapped out of it and was able to gesture to the couch.

They sat themselves tersely at either end of the couch, with Ian trying to relax against the arm and failing miserably as Souji clutched tightly at his own knees.

“So,” Ian attempted to drawl. “What brings you here tonight, boy?”

The corner of Souji's mouth twitched. “...I wanted to apologize,” he said carefully, making sure to properly enunciate. “For my behavior in the last week.”

Ian pressed his lips into a tight line. “I don't see why,” he lied, trying to sound casual despite the twisting in his gut. “Everything seemed fairly  _straight_ forward to me.” For a moment he wanted to chuckle at his own pun, before he realized that it had sailed completely over Souji's head.

“That's...not the point,” Souji said, after taking a deep breath. “I reacted poorly, in a variety of different ways. It wasn't excusable, and...I'm sorry, Ian.” He finally looked up, his eyes pleading in the most platonic way Ian could imagine. Souji stood, turning to face Ian and ducking down into a deep bow. “Please forgive me.”

“Boy...” The word spilled unconsciously from Ian's lips, and for a moment he was painfully reminded of how he'd fallen in love with Souji in the first place. But as much as he wanted to leap up and pull him into a hug, Ian forced himself to stay seated, even though his shoulders began to relax. “...stop that. It's really not necessary.”

Ian leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he spoke. “You're a kid, and I know that. I...crossed a line. I get that. You reacted badly, but this is something you'll learn from, you know?” He reached up to rub at his chin absently. “Although you obviously already know how to throw a mean right hook.”

Souji stumbled back a step, falling out of his bow and looking terribly guilty. “I'm so sorry, Ian. I shouldn't have hit you, that was...inexcusable, it really was.”

Shaking his head, Ian leaned back and drew a line in the air to cut Souji off. “Stop that. Listen. We both did things we're sorry for. But the important thing is that we know where we stand. So.” He looked at Souji pointedly, waiting for an answer.

It took him a moment, but he caught on to the unspoken question. “You're a great person, Ian, and I respect you a lot. But...I'm not interested in you that way. At all. I'm sorry if that hurts your feelings.”

The words hung in the air for a long moment, before Ian lowered his head and chuckled to himself. He raised his eyes again and gave Souji a gentle smirk. “It's alright,” he said with a shrug, and could feel the burden start to lift from his chest. “I've been through this before. And someday, you'll have to go through it yourself, I'm sure.”

Souji fidgeted awkwardly, looking down to his feet. “...yeah, I just did. It's what made me realize how terribly I'd treated you.”

“And it won't be the last time, either,” Ian pointed out, skipping lightly over asking Souji for any ugly details of his conversation with Amy. “But for what it's worth...thank you,” he said, stopping himself just short from using Souji's name properly. “So we can be...friends?”

There was short second of hesitation, then Souji nodded firmly. “Absolutely,” he said, and gave Ian a smile of relief. “And, teammates?”

Ian returned the same smile. “Of course.”

They smiled at each other for a moment, each of them feeling some of the stress from the last week begin to melt away. Souji was the first to look away, his eyes scanning the apartment and taking stock of their environment. “...so, did you forget to pay the electric, or do you just like playing around in the dark?” he joked lamely.

“Ah, not quite,” Ian said, biting his lip. “It's, well...” He looked around as well, realizing the right words before he had to really look for them. Pulling the Mobuckle from where it had fallen between the cushions of the couch, he stood up and looked himself over. He was due for a shower, if he wanted to be at all presentable for what he needed to do next. “I think it's about time I stopped playing around at all.”


	11. Not as Simple

Ian walked through the doors of Tiger Boy, showered and dressed and feeling far more put together and _himself_ than he had in days.

It helped to have a goal, of course. His eyes scanned the restaurant, flitting from patron to patron until he finally found the head of curls he was looking for. He felt his stomach do a little flip, but took the extra moment to calm it before winding his way through the tables and pulling out the chair across from Nossan.

“Is this seat taken?” he asked, a little of his usual playboy tone sliding into the question.

Nossan nearly jumped at the sound of his voice. He looked up at Ian, eyes wide, seeming entirely like a scared mouse looking for a way to escape the predatory cat in front of him. “I, ah, um, n-no, not exactly...” he stammered. His eyes darted around the room, trying to find any familiar source of comfort. “...I, I wasn't going to stay much longer, really.”

Ian held in a sigh, keeping his internal disappointment carefully contained in his chest. “Oh really?” he asked in reply, settling into the chair as he carelessly gestured towards the open menu in front of Nossan. “Nothing catching your eye today?”

There was a moment of hesitation, and Ian could see Nossan mentally stumbling through possible responses before finally looking down at the menu in defeat. “I...I'm not sure I'm hungry after all,” he mumbled.

Ian finally let the sigh out, his shoulders slumping slightly as he leaned forward on the table. “Nobuharu,” he said plainly, watching Nossan's gaze snap back to him at the sound of his full given name. “...will you listen to what I have to say?”

His words hung in the air for a moment, then Nossan nodded, his curls bobbing anxiously. “O-of course,” he said haltingly, obviously doubting his own words the instant they left his mouth.

Ian replied with a nod of his own and forced a small smile. “Thank you,” he said carefully. He looked towards the wall for a second, gathering his thoughts and courage, before looking back properly towards Nossan.

“There's a lot I want to say,” he began slowly, forcing himself to face Nossan as he spoke. “But I really have to start with an apology. I'm sorry, Nossan. I've treated you poorly, and I regret it.”

He saw Nossan's spine straighten slightly, his hands coming up to wave away the apology. “No, don't,” Ian said firmly, cutting him off before he could start. “You didn't deserve how I treated you, so don't you dare think that you can just brush this off. Alright?”

Nossan visibly swallowed, but nodded obediently. “A-alright,” he said slowly. “...apology accepted, Ian.”

The words themselves caused a knot in Ian's back to unravel. His shoulders slumped again, this time from relief rather than defeat. “I can't excuse what I did, but...I think you understand the why. I'd been...hurt, very much so, and the last week has just been a mess. I've done some things I regret, and I really am trying to make things right again.” Ian licked his lips, his throat suddenly also dry. “We can't be a team without trust, and I want to make sure you can trust me.”

Nossan's mouth opened almost immediately, but he swiftly stopped himself, not a single word coming out. His eyes went back down to the menu, and Ian could see that he was carefully trying not to speak without thinking about his words. “...I know I can trust you, Ian,” Nossan eventually said softly, still not looking up. “But I also know what you mean. It's...not as simple as just 'trust' or 'don't trust', I think. It...goes deeper than that.”

Ian winced. He knew what Nossan was saying, of course, but the words still stung. “I'm so sorry, Nos—I mean, Nobuharu,” he swiftly corrected himself, trying hard to be as serious and respectful as he could manage. “Please. Tell me. What can I do to fix things?”

Silence fell between them, and Nossan's head dipped even lower as he thought things over. The pause was beginning to drive Ian mad with worry, afraid that he'd somehow managed to screw things up so badly that there wasn't any real recourse. But then Nossan looked up again, all the way, his gaze meeting Ian's with such intensity that Ian almost looked away.

“Be honest,” Nossan said sincerely. “Stop running away from your feelings. Be honest about how you feel, and for who, and as long as the truth is out then there can't be any misunderstandings. Yeah?”

This time it was Ian's turn to be without words. Nossan hadn't said much, but what he had said made so much sense he was almost unable to process it. “...yeah,” he finally replied, wishing for a bit more eloquence. “You're right.”

He watched Nossan relax slightly, and gave another sigh. “...I've already talked with the boy,” he admitted finally, turning his own eyes to the tabletop. “And...we talked things out, I think. I'll be okay. And...he'll be okay, too.”

“Oh...good.” There was a tightness in Nossan's reply that Ian couldn't miss.

“Which just means I have one more thing to be honest about, really.” He pulled his gaze up again, seeing the mixture of concern and fear plastered across the older man's face. “I like you, Nobuharu. If...you'd be willing to give me a chance, I'd like to try not completely screwing up.”

Nossan blinked. Ian feared for a moment that he might have broken him, but then he blinked again and his lips parted slightly. “Ah...Nos—Nobuharu...?” Ian prompted gently.

“F-first,” Nossan responded, his voice dry but firm, “...y-you can use my nickname, if you want. It's...it's okay, really.”

Ian nodded. “Understood. And...second?”

There was a shining at the bottom of his eyes, something that Ian recognized immediately as the beginning of tears. “...are you sure?” Nossan finally asked, biting at his lower lip nervously.

Ian smiled again, this time in genuine relief. “Yes, I'm sure,” he said, forcing himself to keep his composure. “I'm done with running away from my feelings, I think. So...I'm done running away from you.” He paused for a moment, peering at Nossan with gentle curiosity. “That is...if you're not...already invested in someone else...?”

He watched as confusion spread across Nossan's face, followed by realization and sudden horror. “A-ah! Did you...I mean, what do you...how...?”

The younger man raised his hands in a comforting gesture. “It's okay, Nossan, I...heard, through the grapevine. And it doesn't bother me, really.” He saw the skeptical look on Nossan's face and couldn't keep himself from giving a light laugh. “King's just like that. He'd sleep with the whole team if we let him.”

Nossan's cheeks went a bright shade of red, and Ian leaned in across the table with a quiet question. “...did you, though?” he asked conspiratorially. He watched as Nossan shook his head vehemently, and smiled as he leaned back again. “It's okay if you want to,” he found himself saying. “You can have us both...unless you only really want him.”

“T-that's not it,” Nossan quickly stammered, his face growing even redder. “I, I mean, I...like you both, I j-just can't believe...”

“Shh.” Ian reached across the table, running his fingers gently through Nossan's curls. “We don't have to discuss details right this second. For now, I just want to be sure...do you like me, Nobuharu?”

Nossan's cheeks defied physics as they grew even redder. “Yes,” he said, without hesitation.

“Then let's just go from there.” The smile melted from Ian's face as he leaned forward again, this time to capture Nossan's lips in the gentlest, warmest kiss they'd ever shared. Whispers and mutterings rose up around them from the other patrons, but Ian refused to end the kiss until he was absolutely sure his meaning had been conveyed.

“Thank you,” he murmured softly, after their lips had finally parted. “For giving me a chance.”

“You're welcome,” Nossan replied quietly, a smile playing at the corners of his mouth. “And it wasn't as  _hard_ a decision this time, either.”

Ian tilted his head slightly as he wracked his memory, trying to understand the reference. But Nossan just laughed, and Ian couldn't help but smile in response.

Things were going to be okay after all, and that was all he really needed.


End file.
